Manifolding machine



Dec. 13, WAECHTER MANIFOLDING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WWO W ATTORNEYS,

Dec. 13, 1938. H. J, WAECHTER MANIFOLDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3, 1937 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY$ In! El.

Patented Dec. 13, 1938 PATENT OFFICE MANIFOLDING MACHINE Harry J. Waechter, Mount Healthy, 01110, as-

signor to Paul Benninghofen and Fritz G. Diesbach, trustees, Hamilton, Ohio Application March 3, 1937, Serial No. 128,806

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in web or strip feeding or translating mechanism, particularly for autographic registers or manifolding machines for feeding and registering 5 several superimposed strips and dispensing the same into form section lengths, into which the strips are subdivided.

In autographic registers or manifolding machines a form section of each strip for the manifold number employed is relatively compiled upon a writing table with interposed carbon sheets for manifolding the entries transcribed upon the uppermost section. It is material for this class of machine to have the form sections in registrair, tion and alignment when compiled upon the writing table, and the alignment and registration controlled and maintained automatically during the operation of the machine. It is preferred, on account of convenience in operation, that the g strip feeding instmmentalities be operated by a rotatable crank handle striking against the stop at the end of an operating cycle, the stop finger releasable for moving the handle for a successive operation. In the employment of a crank handle, rotatlve in action, it follows that a pair of cooperating feed rolls provides the most simple and accessible method for web feeding.

It therefore is an object of the invention to provide cooperating rotative rolls for translating 30 one or a plurality of superposed strips or webs of paper as a unit, interposed between the rolls, with one of the rolls having a portion of its periphery or tread surface cut away or relieved for establishing a non-feeding interval in each revolution 35 thereof to release or free the strip for alignment and registration, and to provide a rotating tooth adapted to enter a perforation in the strip during the idling interval of the feed rollsfor strip alignment and registration in continuing ad- 40 vance of the strip.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from a description of the accompanying drawings, in which:

45 Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved autographlc register.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3, Figure 1.

-5 Flgure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4,

Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the register at the region of the feeding discs, certain of the parts being broken away for more clearly 5 illustrating the structure.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 66, Figure 5, detailing the strip advancing and aligning mechanism.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken on line 1-1, Figure 6, illustrating the beginning 5 of the general advance of the superposed strips.

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view taken similar to Figure 7, but illustrating the mechanism in position, wherein the aligning means is coming into action and the general feeding means has 10 become ineffective.

In the present embodiment of the invention cooperating discs or rolls, as upper and lower, are employed to feed a plurality of duplicate strips of paper engaged between the discs. The [5 discs are preferably manually operated by a crank handle fixed -to one end of the shaft carrying the lower discs, and the upper discs are spring urged against the lower discs and when in peripheral contact therewith are rotated by traction by the lower discs. In some instances the rolls may be in positive transmission connection by pinions, as is a common practice.

The lower discs are provided with a cutaway or strip releasing space for governing the length of strip advance in each revolution to feed the strips slightly less than the length of a form section to be dispensed in each operation, and for releasing or freeing the strips from the contacting pressure of the discs at a given point in their rotation to permit strip adjustment. A pair of teeth or pins are rotated in ratio or unitarily with the lower discs, each for engagement into an aperture in the strips to advance the same at the time or interval when the strips are not gripped bythe feed rolls, for strip alignment and form registration of the duplicate strips.

In the past many efforts have been made, but without eflicient and satisfactory results particularly for the grades of paper employed in autographic registers and manifolding machines, to obtain registration and alignment by pins traveling in an arc, engaging into apertures in the strips at intervals when free from the traction grip of the feed rolls. The difliculty has been to avoid strip mutilation and interference while transferring the control from the pins to the feed rolls by a retarded retreat of the pins from the apertures or permitting the pins to impose a strain upon the strip while moving to retreat from the apertures, due to a differential in rate of strip translation between the pins and feed rolls.

The feed rolls advance the strip a major dis tance of a determined length to be dispensed in 56 a single operation and the pins or teeth a minor distance or degree for an adjusting control of the writing platen, and to automatically adjust the form sections over the writing table into registration and alignment.

It is essential to have the feed rolls grip the strips before the pins or teeth are extracted from the apertures to prevent disturbing the alignment and registration, and to extract or withdraw the pins after the strip is gripped by the feed rolls without imparting any pull or pressure upon the strip, which would cause strip tear or injury. If the pins or teeth should have a tendency to advance the strips during the interval of extraction from the perforations at a greater rate than imparted thereto by the feed rolls, the paper will be mutilated at the perforations or there will be interference to the travel of the paper or the dispensingportion thereof, which is likewise detrimental to an eflicient operation of the machine.

The strips must be gripped by the feed rolls as the pins or teeth recede from the perforations so as not to permit any freedom or independent slippage of the strips, which would destroy the alignment and registration previously affected. In the present improvement this has been effectively accomplished by slightly elevating the strips by the lower feed rolls or discs during the interval of contact with the upper feed rolls, tending to lift the strips from the pins to a degree which will permit the pins to freely recede from the apertures without causing any effective pull on the paper, and consequently no disturbance to the translation of the paper by the feed rolls, or multilation of the paper.

Alternately, when the pins come into action for their service, freedom of the strips from frictional contact with the feed rollers is established, and the strip is depressed, or its elevation lowered, for a more severe impalement of the strip upon the tooth or pin.

Referring to the drawings, I indicates the casing of an autographic register or manifolding machine, in the present instance interiorly providing a compartment 2 for a supply quantity of manifold strips of paper, illustrated as flat packaged by zig-zag folding, and a record storage compartment 3 for receiving in a refolded condition one of the strips of a manifold number employed.

The 'latter compartment, however, may be omitted and the length of the casing correspondingly reduced where all of the strips for the number employed are to be dispensed from the machine.

A writing table or platen l is disposed within the casing at the top of the supply compartment, slightly recessed below the top edge of the side walls of the casing, upon and over which a section of the strips is fed from the source ofsupply beneath the table and over the rear edge of the writing table. The strip is translated to dispense a leading form section to be torn from the strip, and to dispose a succeeding section upon the writing table for transcribing thereon.

The feeding or translating instrumentalities for the strips are preferably manually operated by a crank handle 5, limited to a single cycle or revolution by a pair of determinately spaced spring-urged push pins 6'I extending from the outer side of a relative side wall of the casing for interlocking with the crank handle to secure the same against rotation or manipulation in either direction. against rotation the push pin 1, as a stop or limit against forward direction of the crank handle rotation, is exposed to be accessible to the operator, and by depressing the same the handle is released for a successive or subsequent operation.-

The strip feeding instrumentalities comprise an upper feed roll 8, intermediately journalled in a bearing 9 slidably mounted within a journal box Iii mounted upon a cross section of a machine frame ll covering the top of the casing, in a slightly elevated position from the writing table, and is provided with an opening for exposing a form section of the strip upon the writing table. The margin frame 24 is hingedly mounted at its forward end to the casing for swinging the same upwardly to obtain access to'the writing table,

for loading the machine.

A cap l2, fixed to the margin frame, encloses the journal and upper feed roll. The slide bearing 9 is yieldingly urged downwardly against its seat in the journal ID by a spring I 4 mounted within the journal box, Ill.

The upper feed roll, for a preferred detail of construction, provides a plurality of pairs of spaced annuli or discs I 5l5", the spacing between a pair of annuli providing a clearance for a rotating tooth or pin 16 carried by the main operating shaft H for the lower feed roll. In the present instance the tooth I6 forms a radial extension from a hub or sleeve carrying a pair of lower feed discs l8 on the shaft IT.

The plural number of upper and lower feed discs respectively operating upon opposite margins of the strips provides for a more true or straight line of feed of the strips, there being more or less of a tendency for the feed rolls, due to several causes, to divert or deflect the feed of the strips from a true or straight line course. The explanation, however, will be in the singular to avoid confusion.

One of the upper pairs of discs, as the outer disc l5, peripherally contacts with the tread surface of the lower disc l8 for translating the strip, and when contacting therewith is slightly elevated against the tension of the spring I. This also elevates the intervening strips as the periphery of the feed discs is slightly above the elevation of the plane of the table or platen l, the lower feed disc extending through an opening in the platen.

The periphery of the lower feed disc is segmental, having a cutaway or reduced diameter portion l9 non-cooperative with the upper feed roll to produce an idling or paper feed relieving interval in each revolution of the lower feed disc.

The normal tread surface of the lower feed disc,.

which cooperates with the upper disc l5, has a length measurement slightly short of translating the strip for the full length of the form, and the strip is released from the discs or translating grip for its remaining distance of the translation for strip adjustment and registration.

The length of the tread surface of the lower disc in the present arrangement can be varied to accommodate for different lengths of forms or strip sections, the adjustment correspondingly increasing or decreasing, as the case may be, the length or degree of cutaway portion, without, however, affecting the operation of the device for When the handle is locked I 2,140,065 Y feeding different lengths of form sections within the maximum and minimum. degrees or lengths contemplated to be used, or capable of being used within the machine.

The lower feed disc'is of laminated or sectional form, the sections of duplicate construction and each having a segmental periphery or tread surface for the circumference of the disc, the sections clamped or frictionally bound together and relatively rotatively adjustable on their axes to combine for regulating or varying the tread length thereof, as a unit.

The main or outside section a of the lower disc is rigidly fixed to the flange 20 of a hub 2|, by screws 22. The hub 2| is concentrically engaged upon the shaft l1 and is pinned or fixed thereto. The flange 20 is counterturned at its outer side to provide a circumferential offset for the reception of the second section b concentrically upon the hub, and adapted to be frictionally clamped between and to the hub and outer section a.

The sections thus are adapted to be relatively rotatively adjusted upon their axes for increasing or decreasing the cutaway or recessed peripheral portion thereof to meet the requirements for feeding various form lengths in a single revolution of the disc.

The tooth l6, either as an integral part of the hub or rigidly fixed thereon, has a peak or extension slightly greater than the diameter of the tread surface of the lower disc to traverse within the spacing of the upper discs I5-I5'* when depressed, so that the upper discs confine the strip against release from the tooth. The disc 15, in

such instance, merely serves as a guard to pre-,

vent strip dislodgement from the tooth should there be any buckling of the strip intermediate of its width.

The tooth extends above the plane of the platen surface, when at rest, in a position perpendicular to the platen for conveniently anchoring the strip thereon in loading. During a loading period the margin frame is elevated and carrying the upper feed discs removes the same from the lower discs so that the teeth are clear from any obstruction and are freely accessible for registering a set of apertures at the leading end of the strip thereover.

The forward side d of the tooth is tapered or inclined outwardly downwardly, somewhat in conformity to a gear tooth, and is located in advance of the starting point 23 of the tread surface of the lower disc, therefore wholly within the arc of the cutaway or recessed portion of said disc, at which location it bears .a fixed relation to the starting point of the tread surface of the lower disc. This arrangement permits the tooth to be engaged through an aperture and the starting point of the tread surface of the lower disc impinged against the periphery of the upper disc l5 when the parts are in a rest position at the end of an operating cycle, for securely holding the strip against displacement while tearing of! a leading dispensed section thereof, and holding the succeeding form section upon the writing table while transcribing thereon.

Upon commencement of the feeding operation the tread surface of the lower feed disc elevates the upper feed disc, correspondingly elevating the strips within the region of the discs and thereby materially reducing the tooth hold upon the strips in its engagement through an aperture thereof and at the same time the tooth is receding from the strip, under a rolling-like action readily moves out of the aperture, which action has been accelerated by elevating'the strip so that dislodgment of the tooth from the aperture is accomplished in a manner to relieve the tooth from exerting any pull on the strip. The peak of the tooth bears an inclination 0 so that the slightest pull that may be exerted upon the paper will slip the strip from the tooth.

Alternately, for tooth engagement with a perforation as it approaches the end of an operating cycle in its reverse or return direction of orbital travel as it intersects the strip, the tooth readily engages into an aperture lying in registry therewith for a connection to continue the advance of the strip. During the tooth aperture engaging and strip conveying period, the strip is relieved from any impingement by the feeding rolls and as the upper feed roll is relieved from its frictional contact with the tread surface of the lower disc it descends slightly, directing the strip downwardly so as to lie in plane with the writing platen within the region of the feed rolls, and is confined thereby against upward displacement,

insuring a greater degree of tooth intermesh with the strips and dislodgment therefrom.

The relative positioning of the parts for producing the results above described is primarily of advantage when the apertures in the strips are slightly in the rear of a tear line for the form sections, and should the stationery be of a class in which the apertures are on the tear line, a condition is presented in which it is necessary to advance the strips slightly by the feed rolls before coming to the end of an operating cycle, in order to pass the tear line beyond the feed rolls to effect a tear-off. In such instance the teeth engage with the strips and advance the same for an interval intermediate of advancing intervals by the feed rolls or discs, and when the parts are at rest the teeth have passed to a position out of contact with the strip. The strip, therefore, is held intact solely by the feed rolls.

The machine is therefore capable of operating upon strips in which the apertures are differently located, which acticnis merely brought about through a change in location of the handle stops, providing for an operating cycle to come to rest at an appropriate time when a leading form section has been fully dispensed, and capable of being torn off in its completed form. Likewise, the mechanism is also capable of being used for a paper web feed, other than for autographic registers and manifolding devices, in which the tread surface of the lower feed rolls bears no relation with respect to a measured form length, merely possessing an idling interval for tooth intermesh with an aperture in the strips, elevating a portion of the strips within the region of the rolls or feeding instrumentalities for accelerating and expediting tooth dislodgment.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device for feeding one or a plurality of superposed strips of paper over a platen for appropriately disposing a form section thereof upon the platen, comprising, upperand lower rotative rolls having peripheral cooperation for feeding the strip a major degree of the length of the'form section for each feeding operation, the lower roll having a segmental periphery thereby to form an intervening non-roll contacting interval, and the upper roll journaled for yielding in a direction from the lower roll and limited in a direction approaching the lower roll to free the web from upper roll contact during the nonroll contacting interval, a tooth rotative in unison 7| tive within the non-roll contacting interval for engaging an aperture in the strip to continue strip advancement during a non-feeding cooperation of the upper and lower feed rolls for form section alignment and registration, the feed rolls in their cooperating and non-cooperating intervals effecting relative movement of the strip and the peak of the tooth, in one instance for increasing tooth degree of intermesh with the strip aperture, and altemateiy for an extraction thereof. I

2. A device forfeeding one or a plurality of superposed strips of paper over a platen for appropriately disposing a form section thereof upon the platen, comprising, upper and lower rotative rolls having peripheral cooperation for feeding the strip a major degree of the length of the form section for each feeding operation, the lower roll having a segmental periphery thereby to form an intervening non-roll contacting interval, and the upper roll Journaled for yielding in a direction from the lower roll and limited in a direction approaching the lower roll to free the web from upper roll contact during the nonroll contacting interval, teeth rotative in unison with the lower feed roll and located to be effective within the non-roll contacting interval for respectively engaging an aperture in the strip to continue strip advancement during a nonfeeding cooperation of the upper and lower feed rolls for form section alignment and registration, the cooperation of the feed rolls effecting relative movement of the strip and the peak of the tooth for tooth extraction from the aperture.

3. In a manifolding machine, a casing provided with a platen over which one or aplurality of strips in superposed arrangement are drawn. the strip or strips provided with apertures at intervals, upper and lower rolls having peripheral cooperation for feeding the strip or strips engaged therebetween, the lower roll having a segmental periphery thereby to form an intervening non-roll contacting interval, and the upper roll journaled for yielding in a direction from the lower roll and limited in a direction approaching the lower roll to free the web from upper roll contact during the non-roll contacting interval, the lower roll comprising, a hub having a pair of spaced and relatively aligned teeth radially extended therefrom for engaging apertures of the strip for an interval in a cycle,- of said lower roll, a pair of discs adjacent each tooth, the discs fixed to said hub as a unit and having a relief tread surface to provide an uncooperative interval with said upper roll in each cycle of said discs as a unit, the discs relatively, rotatably mounted upon said hub for varying the lengths of said tread surface, the teeth in the strip efl'ective for engaging a respective aperture in the strip during a non-feed interval of said lower feed roll for a limited strip feed, the feed rolls in their cooperative and uncooperative intervals, effecting relative movement of the strip and the peak of the teeth, in one instance for increasing the degree of intermesh with the strip apertures, and alternately for an extraction thereof.

HARRY J. WAECH'I'ER. 

